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Goals. We hear them. We read them. We are supposed to strive to achieve them. What happens after a goal is set – and decisions are made? How do we maintain sight of the original goals? Instead of using project completion or technology deployment to measure success, many companies have started to find measurable value with business capability evolution. Let’s explore how planning capability evolution will increase the likelihood that execution matches strategy and your business goals are met.

Here’s a generic (far-fetched, but relevant) scenario:

CEO: “I want predictive analytics.”

CIO: “Ok, I hear you.”

The CIO shares the request with his team.

CIO’s team to CIO: “In order to provide predictive analytics, we need to upgrade our ERP system.”

In this scenario, the conversation quickly shifted from a high-level need for predictive analytics to an implementation choice of upgrading the ERP. Someone, somewhere, will get a chunk of the funding to implement various systems, technologies, or practices – including that ERP system. Unfortunately, this has become a glorified game of telephone, where no one is paying attention to the original goal of providing predictive analytics for the executives. Here’s the problem: the disconnect has already happened. The IT team works hard to achieve the goal of the project – upgrade the ERP. Months later, they host a small party to celebrate a successful upgrade to their ERP. Of course, steps or tactics are required to deliver business outcomes. In this case, the company needs to upgrade their ERP to deliver predictive analytics. Unfortunately, as happens at many organizations, the focus shifted from the business capability onto the tactic, and through no fault of their own, the team lost sight of the original goal.

Let’s consider this scenario with agility added to the mix of project execution. Early and often, choices are made where the project’s path can be altered irreparably. In our example, the conversation veered off-course when the main objective shifted to become the safe delivery of the ERP upgrade. If your target was set based on a technological choice intended to achieve an outcome, and not the specific outcome itself, then you risk making decisions and taking actions that don’t contribute to achieving the original goal. At each step, remember to ask yourself, “Are we on the right track to deliver the business outcome the executives expect? Did something change?” Even further, are these questions being asked in the context of supporting a capability or are they in the context of deploying a project? Context matters because the answers will drastically differ depending on the actual goal.

Working sessions and meetings could result in pivot points that might change the course of the project. If you start the project with smaller pieces (milestones) in mind that are defined in the context of the capability evolution (business outcome), then the pivots are made to stay in alignment with executive expectations. If you are measuring success based on the achievement of the capability evolution then you won’t lose sight of the project’s original intention. You’ve changed your mode of thinking. The project still exists, but it will be funded through capability evolution. When procuring technology to support the evolution of the business capability, you’re buying/enabling abilities with a business outcome-driven mindset, not just technology for the sake of technology.

Gartner1 states that “by 2017, 60% of Global 1000 organizations will execute on at least one revolutionary and currently unimaginable business transformation effort.” The ability to track strategy as it relates to concerns, business drivers, influencers, and issues is directly related to projects making or missing their mark. A capability-based approach to project execution is your answer to tracking strategy. According to Gartner, “almost 90% of transformation projects miss their mark.” Organizations that fund business capability evolution will close the gap between strategy and failed implementation. It’s important to detach your thoughts from legacy constraints because, when you’re tied to implementation, your scope can become very narrow. Looking at questions or concerns from a capability perspective is an abstraction of thought. Don’t focus on “how” you do it. Focus on “what” it is that you’re doing.

The Enterprisers Project states that “when faced with a business challenge, business leaders often have a good idea where they need to go and how they must evolve. But there is often a mismatch in how prepared they perceive their organization to be, and the cold, hard reality within their walls.” Let’s take a step back and look at the initial conversation about the request for project funding. When trying to get funding, stop talking about projects or technologies or roadmaps or backlogs. Instead, focus the conversation on capabilities. If you talk about, and lead with, capabilities, then to some degree, technology ends up being what enables everything. You’re bound to get much farther in the conversation and become the bridge between reality and perception.

Business leaders seek to manage complexity and create visibility into and traceability of their business and IT landscape, but what does that really mean to the funding and evolution of business capabilities? Keeping a focus on capabilities that are delivered is critical to success.

“I am discussing digital ecosystems at OIC 2014, I believe the phenomenon of digitization has emerged connecting and defining information and relationships in the information era. In the last fifty years the scale of digital data is perhaps the single most extraordinary fact that has grown in unprecedented size.

To put this in perspective the library of congress in 1997 had an estimated 3 Petabytes of data in the form of paper books, microfiches and other records. Just ten years later Google MapReduce cluster systems was reported to be processing approx. twenty Petabytes per day. Today research programs such as the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative to map the human brain is stated as potentially creating Yottabytes of data. Typically today many defence and commercial analysis programs can generate exabytes of storage. The challenge for CIOs and business leaders is to address this central question of our time in the vision, leadership skills and transitional and transforming opportunities and challenges this brings.

Ovum: What do you see as the coming trends in your profession/area of expertise, and how can you prepare?

MS: With so many new technologies and skills for selection, security, integration and design optimisation of information systems today its needs new competencies and business models. I see the impact on outsourcing and multi-sourcing models being disrupted by new innovation, crowd sourcing and funding models to introduce more effective innovation and better return on contract investment and competitive services in leading exponents of these new models. I also see the need for certification and assurance of staff and provider skills, services and solutions that need to understand and professionalise the use of cloud computing, mobility, social media, big data and converged solutions. I think it’s a risk to assume a digital transformational “model” and dash board with verbal assurances is all that’s needed to convince the board and users of “best practice”. Often the underlying infrastructure and management practices may be stuck in old ways of contract lock in and service retentiveness that in the long term many be bad for the customers and the provider financial longevity. Companies need to have leadership and operating plans that address new sourcing and consumption models that drive innovation and value for money that leverage a complete view of technology capabilities. This involves both a commercial, technical, legal security and operating perspective which should be tested and validated with professional certification and qualifications of key providers management skills, key staff and solution environments.

Ovum: Thinking about the conference strapline “Strategy, Technology and the art of the possible”, what tech related innovation, transformation or invention would you hope to see in your lifetime:

MS: I believe in the next twenty to thirty years there will be shift towards connected objects and “things” that will widen the categories of computing in all areas of society, life and devices. In parallel there will be an emerging use of augmented and artificial intelligence that will transform the human – machine relationship. The following table illustrates some examples of the art of the possible today and the future. There is still an element of “futurism” in some of the vision and claims of these technologies that companies need to watch for as well as alleged new platforms that claim to provide an integrated one stop solution. Enterprises need to start to plan and implement digital ecosystem level strategies that seek to understand the real underlying trends in a deeper level and to get the balance between buying the SOT (Same old thing) and the establishing real IOT (Internet of things) presence and the wider digital ecosystem.”

To discuss these fascinating topics and more with Mark, make sure you join us at Ovum Industry Congress. It takes place at the Victoria Park Plaza in London, and is free to attend for end-user IT professionals.